Janelle Monae Lands Role in Drama Hidden Figures

Peter Kramer/NBCJanelle Monae has landed her first major acting role. After voicing animated characters in the past, in movies such as Rio 2, the singer has been cast in the upcoming drama called Hidden Figures.

A rep for the singer’s Wondaland Management confirmed to Billboard that she will join Empire star Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and veteran actor Kevin Costner in the film.

The flick follows “three African-American women who were involved in NASA’s Friendship 7 mission, which resulted in astronaut John Glenn become the first American to orbit the Earth in February 1962,” Billboard reports. Henson will play a mathematician named Katherine Henson while Spencer and Monae will portray her colleagues Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson, respectively.

It seems Janelle is realizing her NASA dream. “I’m thinking of going and being a part of NASA, joining their tech team, so I can get a free ride to space,” she told Billboard back in 2013. “So that’s my next move. Who knows what we’re going to do next. We’re definitely in talks and have had people reach out, but we’ll see.”

According to IMDB, you can expect Hidden Figures to land in theaters in 2017.